1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a coffee machine.
More particularly, the invention is concerned with a coffee machine which is especially well suited for domestic use and for small commercial establishments, i.e. for applications where relatively small quantities of coffee are consumed during any given period of time.
2. The Prior Art
Coffee machines, i.e. machines for brewing coffee, are well known both for large-scale applications (large commercial users) and for small-scale applications (households; small commercial users). By contrast to percolators and analogous devices these machines--known as "espresso machines"--all operate on the principle that a user places a quantity of ground coffee from a supply into a filter, whereupon a stream of hot water is passed through the coffee to become converted into coffee beverage.
There is nothing wrong with the mechanical performance of these machines. They do, however, have a variety of undesirable characteristics which make them less than perfect for use in households and small commercial establishments. In particular, the coffee grounds must be removed from the filter after brewing, and the filter be washed; this causes dirt and disorder. Coffee must first be placed into the filter from a supply, and the grounds must subsequently be removed and the filter cleaned; this is time-consuming and especially the removal of the grounds and cleaning of the filter is often considered to be an onerous chore.
Moreover, with these known machines it is not possible to assume that the taste of the coffee beverage is uniform from one time to the next, because the quantity and quality of ground coffee used, the degree of compaction of the ground coffee in the filter (which influences the flow rate of the water and the extraction of aromatics) and the handling of the machine itself are all factors which are not constant.